Civil War Soldier's Skull Up for Auction

IMO Diane, Mark, and other contributors make some excellent points. I remember watching TV about a team of archeologists who found a large unmarked grave of Napoleon's troops who perished in the great retreat from Moscow. A wealth of information was obtained from the remains but I can't remember if they were reinterred post study with honor and respect or not. This thread's incident hit me hard though as the remains are highly likely those of an American soldier known but to God and auctioning the soldier's skull basically tap dances on every nerve I was issued. Ashes to ashes dust to dust one day that will be us sez I.

Still granting decency, honor, and respect for those who came before us is something that should be encouraged and admired. To do otherwise is at best just plain doing it wrong or at worst beyond disrespectful and thus repugnant to most of us as it should be.
 
This poor soldier, though, is modern enough somebody should have bethought themselves on keeping his skull. Which makes you wonder where the rest of him is. Was he one of those headless bodies observers talked about - his body went there and his head went who knows where? And then you come into the mindset that has to happen when people resume living on battlefields where huge numbers of people died. You can't put in your wheat crop if you think too much about who's under it.

That is exactly what I've been wondering. Is there more? Sitting in a box in the garage? Where the petunia bed was? Or, like you asked....was this all that was left after a close encounter with canister? Seems to me there are more questions to be asked by the authorities.....
 
The auction, as reported, has been cancelled. Now open the link from the original post (quoted above). Within that content, open the link at "Update: Bidding cancelled." and compare Mr. Taylor's statement there with the one attributed to him in the original post.

Why do I keep getting this vision of Mr. Haney driving up in his truck of all trades? (Frankly, I think he would even draw the line at this!)

images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRci2ddvfuRIf3uAlRVhxTeSRmKc5T8FOQaRNV0E3E0If76_eWrlA.jpg
 
It's not just a skull. It is all that's left of a man. Some mourning mothers son. Perhaps a brother, father and husband. It breaks my heart to think that someone would have given all they had to lay them in the ground proper, and say goodbye to them one more time.

I don't wish Hell or harm on anyone, But when whoever was trying to sell this soldiers skull gets where they are going, I hope there is a mother, wife, son or daughter there that they must answer to.

God bless you soldier, US or CSA.

Jim
 
I wonder what people think when they think of the body parts of honorable men as trinkets to be bought and sold. This man was an American hero whether from the Confederacy or the Union. This man was someone's son, brother, father he fought for his beliefs. What right does someone today have to disrespect that man's sacrifice?
 
"The Gettysburg Foundation will work with the National Park Service to authenticate the human remains. Once provenance of the remains has been verified, the Gettysburg Foundation will donate them to Gettysburg National Military Park for interment with full military honors in the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg."

http://www.gettysburgfoundation.org/news/view/251
 
The same outrage should be for the Native American Indian bones collected and kept as trophies. Some have been repatriated but, all of the American dead should be properly buried and returned to their proper places.

If it has been glossed, many of the Revolutionary soldiers buried around Washington, D.C., were buried in the Arlington National Cemetery in 1864. I am distrustful of my memory if any of the dead from War of 1812 were also buried at Arlington.

Post Civil War, I recall reading, that many a cemetery was disturbed, corpses unearthed and mutilated...not just robbed. Hate on both sides remained for a very long while. These 'discoveries' could be such an incident.

Just some thoughts and opinions.

M. E. Wolf
 
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